daily driver susp/tire setup... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

PrizmGSi · 04-13-2010, 02:08 PM

About a year ago I bought & installed Eibach ("Pro-kit" lol) lowering springs on KYB-GR2s struts. Mine is a "all-day-long" daily driver so I wanted a pretty tame/comfy set up. It was a HUGE inprovement over the worn OEM equip. Thing is, I still had life left on the rubber so I didn't upgrade tires at that point. If I remember right, the old tires were like cheap-ass P185/70R-14s and the handling obviously sucked. Last weekend I finally upgraded the tires to match the strut/spring combo with P205/60R-14 Falken Ziex ZE-512s from Discount Tire and I'm really pleased with the ride quality. This setup is a nice balance of comfort and performance. Going with the P195/60s may have been better from a handling stand point but I wanted to fill the tire to fender gap as much as possible and get a little more width. Anyway, Discount has the Falken Ziex on sale for $59 ea which is half the price of the Falken Azenis ST. Looked to me like the only difference between the two was the speed rating. Mine are speed rated -H (130mph) verses the Azenis ST speed rated -Z and since I'd be lucky to get the GSi up to 130mph down hill with a tail wind and a fresh wax job, I figured the H rated tires would be fine. So if your daily driver wants a slightly more agressive stance and feel, this is a pretty good combo.

j2b4osan · 04-13-2010, 03:49 PM

Looks like a nice tread pattern good price! How they hold in the rain?
I personaly run toyo proxes 4's (195-50 15) and they run about 78$ a tire installed.
They have unbeatable traction both dry and wet. I've grown so comfortable that I sometimes take turns in the rain way faster than anyone ever should in any car but so far I haven't even been able to so much as get a chirp out of em. Been riding on them for about 2yrs now and the tread is still massive. How is the tread wear on yours?
If you get a chance and need something for the track I would strongly recomend the toyos.
I had falkens on my maxima a long time ago but thought they sucked in the rain (they may be different now I certainly didn't have the tread pattern you have)

PrizmGSi · 04-13-2010, 04:03 PM

I've only had them on for four days and it hasn't rained yet so I don't know...
but it rains 3 to 5 ft a year here in the Pacific Northwest, so hopefully they're good.

Evo_lucian · 04-13-2010, 04:20 PM

do you have before and after pics of the spring install ?

PrizmGSi · 04-13-2010, 04:45 PM

Pretty sure I do. I'll check when I get home. I never have posted a pic of my car because it looks like any 'stock photo' of the white GSi. If I can't find the before pic I'll definitely post the after pic.

PrizmGSi · 04-13-2010, 05:43 PM

Okay, I just went out and shot a couple of pictures a minute ago. When I swapped out the coil springs the biggest difference was the amount of rear drop. It was all jacked up in the rear like a 70's era muscle car. All it needed was the Hooker Headers and SkyJacker shocks stickers to complete the look.
(dang, we need a mullet smiley)

kwint · 04-13-2010, 07:36 PM

Is that with the 70 series tire? Clean ride bro.

***REN69*** · 04-13-2010, 08:15 PM

195/60-14s or 195/55-14s($$$) would be a better match, 205/60-14s are way too big.

nice... I have the same wheels in my garage for my car. If you ever find a spare set of caps, pick them up for me as I don't have them.

PrizmGSi · 04-13-2010, 08:51 PM

kwint: those are the new 205/60/14s. Thanks, they know me by first name at the wrecking yard 'cause I've been haunting that place for years digging through the dead to replace all the little plastic stuff that gets brittle and breaks on a 19 year old car. Everything works now and looks pretty clean.

Ren: Too big based on 'the look', based on performance or both? I'll keep my eyes open for the caps but GSis are all but extinct nowdays. I never have run across one in a wrecking yard and I'm always looking. The last piece of my replacement puzzle is the missing GSi door emblem. I've been looking since 2002. Anyone have one laying around??!!

I plan on getting 16s wrapped with 195/50s this summer and hanging on to the stock wheels.

***REN69*** · 04-14-2010, 09:01 PM

diameter wise... they're bigger than oem so they'll throw your speedo off quite a bit.

PrizmGSi · 04-14-2010, 10:03 PM

Yeah, oem 185/60 vs the 205/60. Tire sizing calc says it causes the speedo to read 4% slow. When the speedo reads 60mph I'm really going 62.5mph. No biggy. I just liked the looks of them so I figure I'll compensate with driving habits. I'm not usually driving over 65mph so even with the 4% error I should 'stay under the radar' of the troopers. When I do get a hair and blow the carbon out, I'm usually driving fast enough that I'm gonna get a tricket regardless of the 4% difference.

NZAE92 · 04-15-2010, 01:03 AM

doesn't the speedo run off the gearbox so it won't throw it off at all?? only if you could get bigger gears in the gearbox it would throw it off?? just wondering about that

***PhatRoyale*** · 04-15-2010, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NZAE92

doesn't the speedo run off the gearbox so it won't throw it off at all?? only if you could get bigger gears in the gearbox it would throw it off?? just wondering about that

Tire sizes have a direct effect on the gear ratios of a car.

Some reading for you:
http://tops4less.com/tire-size-gear-ratio.html

They also change the rotational inertia so your acceleration may be better or worse depending on the size you select.

NZAE92 · 04-15-2010, 02:48 PM

ok cool thanks for that phatroyale